LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF A?iEEICA, 



Songs of Seven. 




BUT I'LL LOVE HIM MORE, MORE THAN E ER WIFE 
LOVED BEFORE, BE THE DAYS DARK OR BRIGHT." 



Collection of " Masterpieces ' 



J EAN INGELO W 



Songs of Seven 



With nitiiierous orii^i/ial 
illustrations by 



KIRK ESTE 






!£! 



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HliV^^T-^ 



NEW YORK 

Frederick A. Stokes Company 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright^ 1894, by 
Frede7-ick A. Stokes Company 



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Seven Times One. Ex- 
ultation. 




■^^^^- . -^^ 



VE SAID MY SEVEN TIMES OVER AND OVE] 
SEVEN TIMES ONE ARE SEVEN." 



Songs of Seven 



Seven Times One. Exulta- 
tion. 

There's no dew left on the 
daisies and clover, 
There's no rain left in heaven : 
I've said my "seven times" over 
and over, 
Seven times one are seven. 

I am old, so old, I can write a 
letter ; 
Mv birthdav lessons are done ; 



SONGS OF SEVEN, 



The lambs play always, they 
know no better ; 
They are only one times one. 



\ 





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O MOON : IN THE NIGHT I HAVE SEEN YOt' 
SAILING AND SHINING SO ROUND 
AND LOW." 



SONGS OF SEVEN, 

moon ! in the night I have seen 

you sailing 
And shining so roinid and 
low ; 
You were bright ! ah, bright I 
but your light is failing, — 
You are nothing now but a 
bow. 

You moon, have you done some- 
thing wrong in heaven 
That God has hidden your 
face ? 

1 hope if you have you will soon 

be forgiven, 
And shine again in your 
place. 



SONGS OF SEVEN 



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O VELVET BEE, YOU KE A DUSTV FELLOW. 

O velvet bee, you're a dusty fel- 
low, 

You've powdered your legs 
with gold ! 
O brave marsh marybuds, rich 
and yellow, 
Give me your money to hold ! 

O columbine, open your folded 
wrapper, 
Where two twin turtle-doves 
dwell ! 

17 




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O BRA\E MAK.SH.M.\R\ );!_ |)s.' 



S (1 N G S OF SEVEN. 

cuckoopint, toll me the purple 

clapper 
That hangs in your clear green 
bell! 

And show me your nest with the 
young ones in it ; 
I will not steal them away ; 

1 am old ! you may trust me, lin- 

net, linnet — 
I am seven times one to-day. 



Seven Times Two. Ro- 
mance. 




I WISH AND I WISH THAT THE SPRING WOULD 
GO FASTER, NOR LONG SUMMER 
BIDE SO LATE." 



Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Two. Romance. 

You bells in the steeple, ring, ring 
out your changes. 
How many soever they be. 
And let the brown meadow-lark's 
note as he ranges 
Come over, come over to me. 

Yet birds' clearest carol by fall or 
by swelling 
No magical sense conveys, 



i N G S OF SEVEN, 



And bells have forgotten their 
old art of telling 
The fortune of future days. 

" Turn again, turn again," once 
they rang cheerily, 
While a boy listened alone ; 
Made his heart yearn again, mus- 
ing so wearily 
All by himself on a stone. 

Poor bells ! I forgive you ; your 
good days are over. 
And mine, they are yet to be ; 
No listening, no longing shall 
aught, aught discover 
You leave the storv to me. 




CSS" 



MADE HIS HEART VEAKX AGAIN, MUSING SO 
WEARILY ALL BY HIMSELF ON A STONE.'' 



SONGS OF SEVEN 



The foxglove shoots out of the 
green matted heather 
Preparing her hoods of snow ; 
She was idle, and slept till the 
sunshiny weather : 
O, children take long to grow. 

I wish and I wish that the spring 

would go faster, 

Nor long summer bide so late ; 

And I could grow on like the 

foxglove and aster, 

For some things are ill to wait. 

1 wait for the day when dear 
hearts shall discover. 
While dear hands are laid on 
my head ; 



THE FOXGLOVE SHOOTS 
OUT OF THE GREEN MAT- 
TED HEATHER. 



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SONGS OF S E \' P: N . 

" The child is a woman, the book 
may close over, 
For all the lessons are said." 

I wait for my story — the birds 
cannot sing it, 
Not one, as he sits on the tree ; 
The bells cannot ring it, but long 
years, O bring it ! 
Such as I wish it to be. 



39 




THE BELLS CANNOT RING IT. 



Seven Times Three. 
Love. 



I LEANED OUT OF WIN- 
DOW, I SMELT THE WHITE 
CLOVER, DARK, DARK WAS 
THE GARDEN, I SAW NOT 
THE GATE. 




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Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Three. Love. 

I LEANED out of wiiidow, I smclt 
the white clover, 
Dark, dark was the garden, I 
saw not the gate ; 
'' Now, if there be footsteps, he 
comes, my one lover — 
Hush, nightingale, hush ! O 
sweet nightingale, wait 
Till I listen and hear 
If a step draweth near, 
For mv love he is late ! 



SONGS OF SEVEN 



" The skies in the darkness stoop 
nearer and nearer, 
A cluster of stars hangs Hke 
fruit in the tree, 
The fall of the water comes 
sweeter, comes clearer : 
To what art thou listening, and 
what dost thou see ? 
Let the star-clusters grow. 
Let the sweet waters flow, 
And cross quickly to me. 

" You night moths that hover 
where honey brims over 
From sycamore blossoms, or 
settle or sleep ; 

You glowworms, shine out, and 
the pathway discover 



SONGS OF SEVEN. 

To him that comes darkhng 

along the rough steep. 

Ah, my sailor, make haste. 

For the time runs to waste, 

And my love lieth deep — 

" Too deep for swift telling; and 
yet, my one lover, 
I've conned thee an answer, it 
waits thee to-night." 
By the sycamore passed he, and 
through the white clover. 
Then all the sweet speech I 
had fashioned took flight ; 
But I'll love him more, more 
Than e'er wife loved before, 
Be the days dark or bright. 



BY THE SYCAMORE 

PASSED HE, AND THROUGH 

THE WHITE CLOVER. 




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Seven Times Four. 
Maternity. 




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HEIGH ho! daisies AND BUTTERCUPS." 



Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Four. Mater- 
nity. 

Heigh ho ! daisies and butter- 
cups, 
Fair yellow daffodils, stately 
and tall ! 
When the wind wakes how they 
rock in the grasses, 
And dance with the cuckoo- 
buds slender and small ! 
Here's two bonny boys, and 
here's mother's own lasses 
Eager to gather them all. 

63 



SONGS OF SEVEN. 

Heigh ho ! daisies and butter- 
cups ! 
Mother shall thread them a 
daisy chain ; 
Sing them a song of the pretty 
hedge sparrow, 
That loved her brown little 
ones, loved them full fain ; 
Sing, " Heart, thou art wide 
though the house be but 
narrow " — 
Sing once, and sing it again. 

Heigh ho ! daisies and butter- 
cups, 
Sweet wagging cowslips they 
bend and they bow ; 

6s 



GONGS OF SEVEN. 

A ship sails afar over warm 
ocean waters, 
And haply one musing cloth 
stand at her prow, 
O bonny brown sons, and O 
sweet little dair..;hters, 
]\Iaybe he thinks on you now ! 

Heigh ho ! daisies and butter- 
cups, 
Fair yellow daffodils, stately 
and tall ! 

A sunshiny world full of laughter 
and leisure, 
And fresh hearts unconscious 
of sorrow and thrall ! 

Send down on their pleasure 
smiles passing its measure, 

God that is over us all I 

67 



Seven Times Five, 
WicloAvliood. 



1 SHALL NOT D!E, BUT 
LIVE FORLORE. 



-*:v 



Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Five. Widow 

HOOD. 



I SLEEP and rest, my heart makes 
moan 

Before I am well awake ; 
" Let me bleed ! O let me alone, 

Since I must not break ! " 



SONC. S OF SEVEN. 

For children wake, 
though fath- 
ers sleep 
With a stone at ,^' 

foot and 
head : 

sleepless God, 

forever keep, I, 
Keep both living -■ though fathers 

SLEEl'." 

and dead ! 

1 lift mine eyes, and what to see 

And a world happy and fair ! 
I have not wished it to mourn 
with me — 
Comfort is not there. 

O what anear but golden brooms, 
But a waste of reedy rills ! 

77 



SONGS OF SEVEN. 

what afar but tlie tine glooms 
On the rare bhje hills ! 

1 shall not die, but live forlore — 

How bitter it is to part ! 

to meet thee, my love, once 

more ! 
O my heart, my heart ! 

No more to hear, no more to see ! 

O that an echo might wake 
And waft one note of thy psalm 
to me 

Ere my heart-strings break ! 

1 should know it how faint soe'er, 

And W'ith angel voices blent ; 



SONGS OF SEVEN, 

O once to feel thy spirit anear ; 
I could be content ! 

Or once between the gates of 
gold, 

While an entering angel trod, 
But once — thee sitting to behold 

On the hills of God ! 



Seven Times Six. 
Giving in Marriage. 



Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Six. Giving in 
Marriage. 

To bear, to nurse, to rear, 

To watch, and then to lose : 
To see my bright ones disappear, 

Drawn up like morning dews — 
To bear, to nurse, to rear, 

To watch, and then to lose : 
This have I done when God drew 
near 

Among his own to choose. 



SONGS OF SE\EN. 

To hear, to heed, to wed, 

And with thy lord depart 
In tears that he, as soon as shed. 

Will let no longer smart. — 
To hear, to heed, to wed, 

This while thou didst I smiled. 
For now it was not God who said, 

" Mother, give me thy child." 

O fond, O fool, and blind ! 

To God I gave with tears ; 
But when a man like grace would 
find. 

My soul put by her fears — 
O fond, O fool, and blind ! 

God guards in happier spheres ; 



87 



SONGS OF SEVE 



That man will guard where he 
did bind 
Is hope for unknown years. 

To hear, to heed, to wed, 

Fair lot that maidens choose. 
Thy mother's tenderest words 
are said, 

Thy face no more she views : 
Thy mother's lot, my dear, 

She doth in naught accuse ; 
Her lot to bear, to nurse, to rear. 

To love — and then to lose. 



8g 



Seven Times Seven. 
Longing for Home. 



NAY, BUT THE PORT 

WHERE MY SAILOR WENT, 

AND THE LAND WHERE MY 

NESTLINGS BE. 



'^< 






Songs of Seven. 



Seven Times Seven. Long- 
ing FOR Home. 

I. 

A song of a boat : — 
There was once a boat on a 

billow : 
Lightly she rocked to her port 

remote, 
And the foam was white in her 

wake like snow, 
And her frail mast bowed when 

the breeze would blow, 




LIGHTLV SHE ROCKED TO HER PORT 
REMOTE " 



SONGS OF SEVEN. 

And bent like a wand of wil- 
low. 

II. 

I shaded mine eyes one day 
when a boat 
Went curtseying over the 
billow, 
I marked her course till a danc- 
ing mote 
She faded out on the moonlit 

foam. 
And I stayed behind in the dear 
loved home ; 
And my thoughts all day were 
about the boat 
And my dreams upon the 
pillow. 






\ 

I 
I 

I MARKED HER COURSE TILL A DANCING 

MOTE SHE FADED OUT ON THE MOONLIT 

FOAM." 



N G S OF SEVEN. 



III. 

I pray you hear my song of a 
boat, 
For it is but short : — 
My boat you shall find none 
fairer afloat, 
In river or port. 
Long I looked out for the lad 
she bore, 
On the open desolate sea. 
And I think he sailed to the 

heavenly shore. 
For he came not back to 
me — 

Ah me ! 



SONGS OF SEVEN 



IV. 

A song of a nest : — 
There was once a nest in a 
hollow : 




i 



A 



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" I PKAY YOr HEAR MY SONG OF A NEST, 
FUR IT IS NOT LONG." 

Down in the mosses and knot- 
grass pressed, 
Soft and warm, and full to the 
brim — 



107 



SONGS OF S E \' E X 



Vetches leaned over it purple and 
dim, 
With buttercup buds to follow. 



V. 

I pray you hear my song of a 
nest, 
For it IS not long : — 
You shall never light, in a sum- 
mer quest. 
The bushes among — 
Shall never light on a prouder 
sitter, 
A fairer nestful, nor ever know 
A softer sound than their tender 
twitter, 
That wind-like did come and go. 

IC9 



SONGS OF SEVEN 



VI. 



I had a nestful once of my own, 

Ah, happy, happy I ! 
Right dearly I loved them : but 
when they were grown 



v"- ^ V- ^, 



"O, ONE AFTER ONE THEY FLEW AWAY 
FAR UP TO THE HEAVENLY BLUE." 



They spread out their wings to 
fly- 
O, one after one they flew away 
Far up to the heavenly blue. 



S O N G S OF S E \' E N . 

To the better country, the upper 
day. 
And — I wish I was going- too. 

VII. 

I pray you, what is the nest to 
me, 
My empty nest ? 
And what is the shore where I 
stood to see 
My boat sail down to the west ? 
Can I call that home where I 
anchor yet. 
Though my good man has 
sailed ? 
Can I call that home where my 
nest was set, 



SONGS OF S E \- E N . 

Now all its hope hath failed ? 
Nay, but the port where my 
sailor went, 
And the land where my nest- 
lings be : 
There is the home where my 
thoughts are sent, 
The only home for me — 

Ah me ! 



THE END. 



COLLECTION OF MASTER- 
PIECES. 

This Collection of certain of the most 
successful and best-loved works by vari- 
ous authors has been entered upon by its 
publishers with the intention cf making 
it as exquisite and perfect in form as 
po^^sible. Each volume contains a large 
number of original illustrations by well- 
known artists, made especially for the 
Collection, and printed with the utmost 
care. 

The "typographical details a-e some- 
what in the best modern French style, 
and the paper is of the highest grade, 
and has been manufactured especially 
for this Collection, which is issued in a 
variety of beautiful bindings, to corre- 
spond with the dainty interiors of the 
books. 

The following volumes are ready, each 
of which can be had in either of the 
bindings described : 

Masterpieces of Prose and Verse. 

" Selections from Point Lace and Dia- 
monds." Baker. Illust7-ait'd by C. 
Moore-Smith . 



"A Child's Dream of a Star." Dick- 
ens. Illustrated by Elizabetli S. 
T ticker. 

" The Day Dream." Tenxvsok. Illus- 
trated by jr. St. John Harper. 

" Evangeline." Longfellow. Illus- 
trated by Charles Howard Johnson. 

"Thanatopsis." Bryant. Illustrated 
by Coriuin Kiiaj>p Linson. 

"Songs of Seven." Ingelow. Illus- 
trated by Kirk Este. 
"Violet" bindinc^, with backs of can- 
vas, richly ornamented in gold, and with 

outer sides illuminated with design of 

purple violets, with gold background. 

Gilt top. In a box. 

Per volume, .... 75 cents. 
Full dull brown cloth, or full white 

cloth, with artistic ornamentation in 

gold. Gilt top. In a bo.x. 

Per volume, .... 75 cents. 
Half calf. Gilt top. In a bo.x. 

Per volume, . . . . $1.50. 

Limp calf. Red-under-gold edges. 

In a box. 

Per volume, .... $2.00. 

Other volumes in preparation. ' 



Specimen Pages 



Tlianatopsis." Bry- 
ant. 

Colh'ction of " Masterpiecesy 



T H A N A T O 



Nor in the embrace of ocean, 
shall exist 

Thy image. Earth, that nour- 
ished thee, shall claim 

Thy growth, to be resolved to 
earth aeain. 




THE SLUGGISH CLOU, WHICH THE RUDE 

SWAIN TURNS WITH HIS SHARE, AND 

TREADS UPON." 



i 



^ 



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Specimen Pages 



'Evangeline." Lun 
fellow. 

Collec'ion of " Masterpieces'''' 




I'ATIEN-CE ! ' THE PRIEST WOULD SAY. 



34 EVANGELINE. 

Silenced, but not convinced, when the 
story was ended, the bhicksmith 

Stood Hke a man who fain would 
speak, but findeth no language ; 

And all his thoughts congealed into lines 
on his face, as the vapors 

Freeze in fantastic shapes on the win- 
dow-panes in the winter. 

Then Evangeline lighted the brazen 
lamp on the table. 




WROTE WITH A STEADY HAND. 




HUNTING FOR FURS IN THE FORESTS. 



